The Stemie: Bike-Pad Protects Your Family’s Future

The Stemie isn’t going to stop you crying if you slip off your saddle and take a metal whack to the baby-maker, but it might just make the bruises a little less severe. The oddly-spelled accessory is simply a silicone-rubber ball with a strap that slips over and secures to your bike-stem.

You have to be riding your bike in a rather odd fashion, or have some very bad luck, to actually hit your more sensitive parts on the sharp aluminum elbow of the handlebar stem, but its pretty easy to bash a thigh if you’re using your bike for anything more dangerous than commuting. Mountain-bikers, BMX-ers and bike polo players are all aware of the risks. This last – polo-players – are especially vulnerable as they’ll often use old road bikes with an angled quill-stem instead of the squared-off clamp-on stems seen elsewhere.

The Stemie weighs 60-grams (2.1-ounces), comes in an array of eye-burning colors and costs $19 – a small price to pay for the continuation of your bloodline.